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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962818">Thank You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/uni_united/pseuds/uni_united'>uni_united</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Men's Football RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Coffee Shops, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Liverpool, Liverpool F.C., Liverpool RPF - Freeform, M/M, Mild Smut, movren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:35:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,345</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962818</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/uni_united/pseuds/uni_united</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Brate, if you keep that face you will end up making it forever”, the Egyptian said. </p>
<p>Dejan broke out of his scowl and looked at the curly-haired man beside him. Mo was smiling so brightly, but what’s new? He couldn’t help but smile and slap his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Everything I do, you must look at my face ah? I was just thinking about what to eat tonight”, he said.</p>
<p>“All that for dinner? Dej, you must think I am an idiot”, Mo replied. </p>
<p>But before he could reply, it seemed that everyone was already leaving the room. The Croatian looked around and decided to ask, “Coffee? My treat”. Mo smiled, “Of course”.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dejan Lovren/Mohamed Salah</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Thank You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The locker room was, like always, a busy place in Anfield. Everywhere you looked, mayhem was there. And it’s almost certain that you’d see the usual suspects together.</p>
<p>“Brate, if you keep that face you will end up making it forever”, the Egyptian said. </p>
<p>Dejan broke out of his scowl and looked at the curly-haired man beside him. Mo was smiling so brightly, but what’s new? He couldn’t help but smile and slap his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Everything I do, you must look at my face ah? I was just thinking about what to eat tonight”, he said.</p>
<p>“All that for dinner? Dej, you must think I am an idiot”, Mo replied. </p>
<p>But before he could reply, it seemed that everyone was already leaving the room. The Croatian looked around and decided to ask, “Coffee? My treat”. Mo smiled, “Of course”. </p>
<p>__________</p>
<p>In the car, they enjoyed a (mostly) silent ride. Dejan had turned the radio on, and the song “Be with you” played. Both didn’t really know the song, yet they both hummed to it anyway. Salah stared at Dej, looking at his familiar face. He swears that he looks better and better every day, though he never realizes it for himself. His eyes catch his. </p>
<p>“Always my face?”, he says teasingly. </p>
<p>Salah smiles, “What? You’d rather I look at your skinny body?”</p>
<p>Lovren’s smile drops, “Shut up”. He turns the wheel. “I am lean, you know? Unlike you, you are just-”</p>
<p>“Incredibly handsome and muscular?”</p>
<p>“No. Short. And Wide” </p>
<p>“Well, this short and wide player has won how many awards?” </p>
<p>“Ah I can’t hear you anymore”</p>
<p>They stop at a traffic light. The taller man turns the radio louder. “Fly me to the moon” plays. Salah’s eyes brighten, “Ah I know this song!”. “Everyone knows this song, Brate”. Salah doesn’t respond, only starts singing promptly. </p>
<p>“-In other words, hold my hand...In other words, baby, kiss me”</p>
<p>Of course, like everything else, he was good at singing too. His English pronunciation might be a little off, and his accent obviously still thick, but his voice was rich and beautiful. Dejan had always noticed it. When the whole team sings their anthem, he always makes sure to listen closely to Salah. </p>
<p>“Fill my heart with song, and let me sing for ever more, You are all I long for-”</p>
<p>“-All I worship and adore”, he joins in.</p>
<p>Salah smiles and duets with him. “In other words, please be true”</p>
<p>“In other words-”</p>
<p>Beep! Beep! </p>
<p>Broken out of their trance, the pair suddenly realized that the light had already turned green. Since when? They don’t want to know.</p>
<p>“Brate, you should start driving unless you want some angry drivers to come up to us”.</p>
<p>“Alright! Alright!”. </p>
<p>__________</p>
<p>“One ice mocha latte and an espresso macchiato for the guy over there”, Lovren said. </p>
<p>“Guy over there?”, Salah said, smiling. </p>
<p>He rolled his eyes. “For my best friend over there”. </p>
<p>Salah’s face softened, “Thank you”. </p>
<p>“Alright, please wait for your order in the parking lot”, said the lady.</p>
<p>Salah rests on his arms and looks up. “So, Dej, care to explain your sad mood before?”. </p>
<p>Lovren taps his hands on the wheel, a nervous tick that Salah had noticed over the years. “Of course, how could I have thought you’d forget? It was nothing. I was just thinking” </p>
<p>“Thinking? If you were only thinking you’d have your usual face like this”. He leans towards the driver’s seat and pulls a serious face. “Not like the face you’re making right now”.</p>
<p>Lovren sighs, “Ah how can I ever hide anything from you? It’s just, I haven’t been performing well recently. And with my contract still so undecided… I just begin to wonder if I’m not needed here anymore”</p>
<p>“Dej…”</p>
<p>“I know, I know, I’m an important part of the team and everything. But… would anyone here really even miss me?”</p>
<p>Suddenly, he felt hands clasped on his cheeks. “Brate, look at me”. And of course, he does. “No one will be perfect. Every person has their off days or even off seasons. Who knows? You will be very important in the next game, or even next year. Maybe 5 years from now. It is on you if you think you want to celebrate that moment with us, or with another team. Everything else? Only God can decide”</p>
<p>He was so close, so, so close from his face. He could feel his breath on his lips. Salah smelled like, well, coffee. Dark and smooth, and so, so alluring. </p>
<p>“And”, he lowered his voice, “I would definitely miss my best friend”</p>
<p>Lovren leaned in and kissed his forehead. “Thank you, Mo”. </p>
<p>Salah smiled, this time a genuine melancholic smile, “For you, a thousand times over”. </p>
<p>He was about to lean in again until a gentle knock on the car window shocked both of them. They jumped back to their seats. Lovren looked beside him. Ah, it was the lady from before.</p>
<p>“Sorry to bother, but your order’s here- have a nice day!”, she said.</p>
<p>He smiled awkwardly and got the bag from her hands, “Thank you”. </p>
<p>As he handed the drink, the Egyptian man stared at him deeply. “So… your house?’ </p>
<p>__________</p>
<p>As they reached Lovren’s house, they walked silently to the doorstep. </p>
<p>“You know, I also wasn’t kidding about dinner- I don’t have anything for us to eat”, the Croatian man said.</p>
<p>“Ah it’s okay, I am not in the mood for eating”, Salah said cheekily. </p>
<p>Lovren stuck the keys into the door. “Really? What are you in the mood for then?”</p>
<p>The door unlocked.</p>
<p>Salah pushed the taller man onto the wall, grabbed his collar, and pulled him down to kiss him. Of course, this was nothing new for the two. On nights like these, they had always gone places where they were not allowed. Something that passes beyond the border of “best friends”. Something unspoken between the two. </p>
<p>Lovren reciprocated the kiss with the same urgency as Salah. Teeth clashing, tongues touching, and soft moans coming from the Egyptian. They made out for a while until Lovren eventually led them to the sofa. Pushing Salah on the surface, he coursed his hand in his hair and let the other hand trail downwards to his shirt. Tracing his muscles and scars while still kissing him passionately.</p>
<p>“Dej, take it off”, Salah said quietly. It was only times like these when the man isn’t smiling, too focused on the pleasure. He felt as if he spoke any more, the moment would disappear and things would go back to normal. Dejan quickly took his shirt off and his pants too. And eventually, one thing led to another, and another… and finally,</p>
<p>They ended up on Dej’s bed, sweaty, tired, and well- satisfied. </p>
<p>“So”, Dejan started, “in the mood for food now?”. </p>
<p>Salah laughed, “Let me order some take-out”. </p>
<p>The two made their way to the living room and sat side by side on pillows on the ground. “What do you want to watch?”, Dej asked. </p>
<p>“I feel like watching Tangled tonight”, Salah replied. </p>
<p>“Really? I want Beauty and the Beast”</p>
<p>“What? No, we watched that last time”</p>
<p>“I don’t like Tangled, the man is not even a prince!” </p>
<p>“Why does he have to be a prince ah? Fine, let’s find something we both want” </p>
<p>“Ok. Let’s watch Ratatouille”</p>
<p>“What? You want a prince, now you want a rat? You make no sense sometimes, Dej”</p>
<p>“Fine… Let’s just watch Hercules. It has good songs” </p>
<p>“Finally, a good one. Okay, play it”. <br/>As they both watch Hercules while eating some random take-out, Salah thinks to himself: He never wants this to end. To laugh, smile, and cry with him. To be so close… yet so far. A teammate, a friend, a lover? He doesn’t care what they are. As long as they can have nights like these, that’s all that matters. </p>
<p>“Mo?”, Lovren says abruptly.</p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p>“Thank you, again”. </p>
<p>Salah smiles a real smile. They may not say things like I love you, but to both of them… Thank you is enough. It’s enough.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>My first fic in the football RPF fandom... After watching all those Liverpool interviews with Dej and So, I couldn't resist! I just love their dynamic, and their constant bantering just leaves so much potential for dialogue. The best part is that most of this fic is based on some real facts, like how they go to get coffee often, or that they sit next to each other in locker rooms. I hope you liked it!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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